Friday, July 13, 2007

Who Will Benefit From Tipaimukh Dam?

Thangkhanlal Ngaihte
(The Statesman, July 9, 2007)

After much delay, the foundation of the 1500-MW Tipaimukh multipurpose hydel project was laid by Union power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde on 16 December 2006. Present at the function were Union heavy industries minister Santosh Mohan Dev, Union minister of state in the PMO Prithviraj Chauhan, chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and a host of high dignitaries. They showed the Centre's determination to go ahead with the project, ignoring locals' strong opposition

That day large parts of Manipur observed a bandh in protest against the project. When the ministerial team reached Thangal village in Tamenglong district after a public meeting at Parbung, bandh supporters torched government offices and destroyed public utilities at the Tamenglong district headquarters.

The idea of a dam over the Barak river was mooted as early as in 1954, but the detailed project reports were not ready before 1984. The major twin objectives were generation of power and flood control. In 1995, then chief minister Rishang Keishing opposed the project. Three years later, the Manipur assembly passed a resolution opposing it. Meanwhile, several social and civil organisations were formed, especially in Manipur, to resist the move. The Action Committee against Tipaimukh Project is an umbrella organisation of as many as 29 NGOs, most of which are based in Meitei and Naga areas. It has continued to agitate against the dam, at times calling bandhs.

Outer Manipur MP Mani Cheranemai raised the subject in Parliament. Some Meitei militant groups also said they were opposed to the project and opposition has also come from across the international border. Bangladesh has consistently voiced concern over the proposal. The deltaic country, through which the Barak river passes before entering the Bay of Bengal, is afraid the project will rob it of its share of water in its lower reaches. Negotiations are on between India and Bangladesh to arrive at an amicable settlement.
Apart from street protests, there have been numerous commentaries by supposedly well-informed people who oppose the dam, citing reasons ranging from the seismic factor (there were at least two earthquakes exceeding 7 on the Richter scale over the last 150 years within a 100 km radius of Tipaimukh); that it will threaten the flora and fauna and endangered species like pythons, gibbons, herbal and medicinal plants, tribal land rights; and, of course, that it would submerge as many as 90 villages within a 311 sq-km radius.

Despite all this, the Cenre went ahead. In 1999, the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation was entrusted with executing the project. In 2001, while Manipur was under President's rule, the state allegedly approved the proposal. In 2003, the Public Investment Board and Central Electricity Authority cleared the project at estimated cost of Rs 5, 163.86 crore — a steep rise from Rs 1,078 crore in 1984 (the latest estimate, as in November 2005 was Rs 5,855.83 crore). In November 2005, NEEPCO floated global tenders and in July 2006, the pre-bid qualification of the tender for the first phase was opened. With the foundation laid on 16 December the ball has been set rolling.

But will it really usher in an era of prosperity for the region, as the government claims it will, or will it be a symbol of dashed hopes, like the much smaller Khuga Dam in Churachandpur? The same was said of the multipurpose 105-MW Loktak hydel project but now not a single day passes without loadshedding and large parts of Manipur going without power for days together.

The main dam is proposed to be built 500 metres downstream from the confluence of the Barak (locally called Tuiluang ) and Tuivai rivers at Tipaimukh which is close to the Manipur-Mizoram border. Most of the submerged areas will be in Manipur — inhabited by the Zeliangrong and Hmar tribes.

While various Naga and Meitei organisations have voiced opposition, the Hmars, who occupy the dam site itself, have maintained a low profile. The Inpui, the apex body of the Hmar tribe, explains. "The Hmar people generally favour the dam. We believe it will bring much needed development to the region, which is still in the primitive stage. If Hmar organisations do not speak up now, it's probably because of threats from various quarters to those who support the dam and also because they want to project a coordinated response to the issue." The source also alleged that the high-profile street protests were orchestrated by busy-bodies who did not represent the affected people, and did not know the ground situation and topography of the area.

True, the area may well be the most underdeveloped part of the North-east — there are no motorable roads, no electricity and poverty is acute. The area, at least on the Manipur side, is rugged and unproductive from the farming point of view. While large projects have their demerits and the government's record in terms of providing rehabilitation and resettlement to the affected people in most big dams is very poor, one major opposition weakness seems to be that it just does not have an alternative, viable model of development.

The government touts the project as the panacea for the region's ills. Santosh Mohan Dev called 16 December a red letter day for the region and NEEPCO claimed the "power generated will bridge the demand-supply gap for Manipur and other North-east states", that Manipur would get free power at the rate of five per cent for the first five years (equivalent to Rs 55 crore per year) and this would jump to 10 per cent in the next 10 years and a further 15 per cent in the next 20 years. Mizoram would get one per cent of power. It is said the benefits would amount to around Rs 300 crore a year. But the government has been saying nice things for all its major projects, many of which remain stillborn.

The government is pressing ahead, but there are numerous hindrances ahead. On 22 February 2007, the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee — an expert appraisal panel for river valley and hydroelectric projects under the Ministry of Environment and Forests — deferred clearance for the dam for the second time. Moreover, since the project has became more of an inter-tribe and inter-community political battlefield and less of a purely development issue, it is difficult to foresee how things will work out.

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